The present invention refers to a load-adjusting device having a control lever which determines the output of an internal combustion engine, and is so held by a coupling spring against an intermediate lever adapted to be moved by an accelerator pedal that the control lever follows the intermediate lever due to the force of the coupling spring.
Load-adjusting devices of this type are provided in automotive vehicles for actuating the throttle valve or injection pump by means of the accelerator pedal in order to intervene by means of an electronic control device in such a manner that, for instance, wheel spinning upon starting as a result of excessive power is avoided. The control device can see to it that, for instance, upon excessively fast depression of the accelerator pedal, the throttle valve is opened less than corresponds to the position of the accelerator pedal so that the internal combustion engine produces only a power which does not lead to a spinning of the wheels. It is also known in the case of such a load-adjusting device to intervene by means of a speed limiting controller which, due to the possibility of decoupling the control lever from the accelerator pedal, can see to it that a lower power is set than that established by the driver by means of the accelerator pedal.
Because of their expense, anti-spinning controls or speed limiting controllers are generally only installed in higher price vehicles so that the abovementioned load-adjusting device has also been used only in such cars in combination with such control devices. In the case of simpler cars the driver must still depress the accelerator pedal sufficiently slowly, in particular upon starting. Aside from the danger of the wheels spinning, if the accelerator pedal is depressed too rapidly the effect is easily obtained that the vehicle enters into an unstable jerky movement if the driver, after depressing the accelerator pedal too strongly, releases the pedal suddenly resulting in deceleration of the vehicle as a result of which the foot of the driver instinctively moves forward and again depresses the accelerator pedal.
It is an object of the invention to develop a load-adjusting device of the aforementioned type in such a manner that spinning of the drive wheels as a result of excessively rapid depression of the accelerator pedal is avoided even without electronic control devices.